Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager Workshop Welcome About LunaMetrics
LunaMetrics is a Digital Marketing & Google Analytics consultancy helping businesses use data to illuminate the bridge between marketing, user behavior and ROI. Our core consulting competencies are in Google Analytics and Digital Marketing Strategy.
2 Welcome Ok, So Who Is This?
Jon Meck Senior Director, Marketing
3 Welcome Who are you?
Techie Marketer
Super Human
4 Welcome Fun Facts: Me
I write puzzle books for fun!
I have two kids, Lucca (4) and Rosie (1). (Forgive me for my dad jokes.)
I try to attend concerts in every city I visit for work!
5 Welcome Fun Facts: We Do Trainings!
6 Welcome Fun Facts: Training Options
We hold a few different trainings across the country! In Chicago 3x a year, and actually here next week!
Subject Classes
Google Analytics 101 201 301
Google Ads 101 201
Google Tag Manager 101
Google Data Studio 101
Google Optimize 101 Learn more about our trainings Google Analytics 101 7 Welcome Fun Facts: Share & Raise Money
/LunaMetrics @lunametrics /LunaMetrics
#LunaTraining #ContentJam
Google Analytics 101 8 Welcome Three Main Goals
1. Understand how Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager work together. Understand how to implement.
2. Learn about Google Analytics events; how we can use GTM to add event tracking to our site, and event reports to better understand users’ actions.
3. Learn about Google Analytics custom dimensions; how we can use GTM to pass extra info to GA, and how this helps our reporting.
9 How Does It All Fit Together?
10 Suite Recent Google Changes
11 Suite Google Marketing Platform
12 Suite Google Marketing Platform
Off Your Site On Your Site Reporting In GA
Sending Recording Traffic Activity
13 Suite Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a tool that we use to capture, sort, classify, and report on users’ actions on and off our site. We can slice and dice the data several ways, comparing content, traffic sources, users, and more.
14 Suite Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager is a tool to make it easier to make small changes to our website, like adding “tags” from Google and third-parties, triggering off page or user-specific actions that occur on the page.
15 Suite GA & GTM Together
1. Google Tag Manager code added to page 2. Existing GA Tracking removed from page 3. Google Analytics tracking set up inside of GTM 4. Additional tags set up inside of GTM 5. When page loads, GTM (and all tags) fire
16 Suite Use More, Get More
The benefits of using Google’s products are realized as you add more, connected products to your personal ‘stack.’ Learn how each tool connects to the other tools and work to take advantage of their native integrations.
Less time moving data, more time using data.
17 Orienting Yourself in GA Account Overview, Dashboard, & Navigation Orientation The Questions We Ask Of Analytics
Who came to my site? (Audience)
Where did they come from? (Acquisition)
What did they do there? (Behavior)
Did they do what I wanted? (Conversions)
19 Orientation What Does GA Measure?
What did they look at? Who came to our site? ▪ Which pages? ▪ Where geographically? ▪ Where did they enter and ▪ Have they been here before? leave? ▪ How often do they come back? ▪ What did they search for?
How did they get here? Were they successful? ▪ Bookmark, link, search ▪ Did they complete our goals? engine (keyword? paid or ▪ Did they complete a transaction? organic?), email marketing, etc. ▪ If not, where did they drop out?
20 Orientation Audience Reports
• Geographic • Frequency • Technology • Demographics (some) • Interests (some)
21 Orientation Acquisition Reports
• Channels • Source/Medium/Campaigns • Paid Search (AdWords/DoubleClick) • Organic Search (Google Search Console)
22 Orientation Acquisition Reports
23 Orientation Acquisition Homework
• Make sure you are using campaign tags on ALL inbound links that you control (Social, Email, Affiliates, Trade Shows etc.) • Understand Medium/Source/Campaign • Link Google Ads & Google Search Console • Create Custom Channels
24 Orientation Unlock Reports
Connecting your tools together unlocks new reports inside of Google Analytics, enables passing of data between products.
25 Orientation Behavior Reports
• Pages Viewed • Landing Pages • Site Search • Events • Content Groupings
26 Orientation Behavior Homework
• Set up Site Search • Look into Content Groupings • Track Everything With Events (Today!)
27 Orientation Conversion Reports
Goals Ecommerce Did they do the thing Did they buy something we wanted them to do? from our website?
28 Orientation Conversion Reports
• Goal Conversions • Reached a Page • Spent Amount of Time • Read a Number of Pages • Took a Specific Action • Ecommerce • ENHANCED Ecommerce
29 Orientation Conversion Homework
• Set up Goals. Yesterday! • Implement Enhanced Ecommerce if Possible • Consider conversions to link to Ads
30 Getting Started With GA An Overview of Analytics & Using Your Account Getting Started Navigation Audience > Overview
32 Getting Started Accounts, Properties, Views, Oh My!
User Your email login (could be a Gmail address or your own email address you’ve signed up as a Google Account).
Account Your user login may have access to multiple accounts in Google Analytics – a personal account for your blog and your company account for your corporate websites, for example.
Web Property A distinct website you are measuring. Each web property is identified by an ID.
View Separate “buckets” of data within a property. Each web property has at least one view, and you may add additional views with different sets of data filtered in various ways. How to Choose Between Views and Properties 33 Getting Started User Access
Manage Users Can manage account users (add/delete users, assign permissions). Does not include Edit, Collaborate, or Read & Analyze
Edit Can perform administrative and report-related functions (e.g., add/edit/delete accounts, properties, views, filters, goals, etc., but not manage users), and see report data. Includes Collaborate.
Collaborate Can collaborate on shared assets, for example, edit a dashboard or annotation. Includes Read & Analyze.
Read & Analyze Can see report and configuration data; manipulate data in reports; create and share personal assets, see shared assets. Cannot collaborate on shared assets. User Permissions in Google Analytics Google Analytics 301 34 Getting Started Web Property
Web Property ▪ The web property ID is of the form UA-XXXXXX-YY.
▪ It’s often called the “UA number” since it starts with “UA”.
▪ The XXXXXX part represents your account number, and the YY represents a unique web property.
▪ The web property ID is what enables GA to send data to the correct set of Views.
Google Analytics 301 35 Getting Started Getting An Account & Logging In
Google Analytics 101 36 Getting Started Account Creation
Google Analytics 101 37 Getting Started Account Creation
Google Analytics 101 38 Getting Started Tracking Code
Where Should The Google Analytics Tracking Code Be Placed? Where Should The Google Tag Manager Snippet Be Placed? 39 Getting Started Five Eras of Tracking Code
DON’T USE Pre-2015 ga.js 2009-2013 analytics.js 2017-present “traditional” Universal
var pageTracker = ga('create', 'UA- _gat._getTracker("UA-XXXXXX-Y"); XXXXXX-Y', 'auto');
Urchin.js ga.js gtag.js _uacct = "UA-XXXXXX-Y"; Asynchronous gtag('config', _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXX-X'); 'UA-XXXXX-X']); 2005-2009 2013-present
Google Analytics 301 40 Getting Started Five Eras of Tracking Code
The Google Analytics tracking code, or collection method, has changed over time. Each has a specific set of instructions, most represent changes or improvements.
1. analytics.js (on-page or via GTM) 2. gtag.js (on-page)
Google Analytics 301 41 Orientation Right Tool For The Job Unlock Reports
What version are you using? Check your site and View Source to look for your GA implementation. Note: If you use a plugin or GTM, you might not see in source code. That’s ok! Just need a different tool.
If you have the option, always use Google Tag Manager. Otherwise, you can use either gtag.js or analytics.js on the page. Gtag will have the most support for on-page code going forward.
42 Getting Started How Google Analytics Works
Web Browser
Your website
GATC
Google Analytics Server Data Processing Google Analytics Reports
43 Getting Started What Can Users Do On Our Site?
• Read our blogs • Browse our products • Sign up for our newsletter • Watch videos • Submit Forms • Share on social • Login/Register for an account • Make a purchase
Just Installed Google Analytics: Now What? 44 Getting Started What Does Google Analytics Measure?
• Read our blogs DEFAULT • Browse our products DEFAULT • Sign up for our newsletter CUSTOM • Watch videos CUSTOM • Submit Forms CUSTOM • Share on social CUSTOM • Login/Register for an account CUSTOM • Make a purchase CUSTOM
Just Installed Google Analytics: Now What? 45 Getting Started Using The Default Code...
Just fine in many cases!
But, there are additional features that need some setup/configuration to get the most out of your data: ▪ Goals (did visitors complete some key action?) ▪ Site Search (what did visitors search for?) ▪ Campaigns (which of my marketing efforts drove users to the site?)
Just Installed Google Analytics: Now What? 46 Getting Started Extra Interactions
The default tracking code captures the sources visitors come from and the pages they view on the site.
There may be additional data you want to capture: ▪ Interaction events (downloaded a PDF, played a Flash video, filled out an AJAX form, etc.) ▪ Custom information about visitors or their behavior not present in URLs (logged in users, etc.)
47 Getting Started Technical Situations
There may be technical situations that require you to use different or additional code: ▪ Subdomains measured together in one property ▪ Multiple domains measured together in one property ▪ Frames or iFrames ▪ URLs that don’t change for forms or content ▪ Client-side redirects
48 GTM Implementation
49 Introduction Google Tag Manager
▪ Google Tag Manager is a free tool that allows users to add tags – including conversion tracking, analytics, and remarketing – with just a few clicks.
▪ The tags load on the client-side as the page loads.
50 Introduction Tag Manager Benefits
Little coding required*
Integrated tags with select third-party tools
Multiple users and permissions supported
Import solutions from others
*For basic
51 Introduction Tag Manager Benefits
Version control
Live debugging
Re-usable components
Speeds up page load time!
52 Introduction Whose Job Is It?
Developers (on-page code): ▪ Technical proficiency ▪ Potentially long lead times ▪ Typically more robust QA needed/expected ▪ Not flexible ▪ Intertwined with core functionality ▪ Server-side
53 Introduction Whose Job Is It?
Marketer (tag management): ▪ Less tech skills required, more chance for error ▪ Fast turnaround (minutes) ▪ Separate from site functionality ▪ Perhaps less oversight ▪ Client-side
54 Introduction Our Recommendation
Marketer + Developer: ▪ User permissions enable granular control ▪ Devs can review and approve ▪ Whitelist/blacklist types of tags ▪ Maintain speed to launch
We always recommend a Tag Manager.
55 Orientation GTM Does Not Equal Analytics
Google Tag Manager does not replace Google Analytics. Google Tag Manager is the way Analytics is loaded on to your page.
56 Orientation Installing GTM On Your Site
▪ Google Tag Manager requires a one-time code update to every page on your website ▪ The Tag Manager code has two pieces ▪ The top part should be placed as high in the
of the page as possible ▪ The bottom part should be placed immediately after the opening tagGoogle Tag Manager 101 57 Orientation Installing GTM On Your Site
...Google Tag Manager 101 58 Orientation Installing GTM On Your Site
Without GTM Snippet With GTM Snippets installed
Google Tag Manager 101 59 Orientation Google Tag Manager Migration
If you already have Google Analytics on the page, you need to be careful about adding Google Tag Manager to your site.
If you have Google Analytics hard-coded on your site, never fire a Google Analytics Pageview Tag in Google Tag Manager to the same property.
Instead, carefully set everything up in Google Tag Manager, then migrate from the on-page to Google Tag Manager.
Universal Analytics Upgrade Guide Safely Migrating to Google Tag Manager Google Tag Manager 101 60 Introduction Google Tag Manager Migration
Test GTM & Analytics – UA-1234-9
On-Page Analytics – UA-1234-1 GTM & Analytics – UA-1234-1
Implement Google Tag Manager Transition Point
Safely Migrating to Google Tag Manager Google Analytics 301 61 Introduction Case Study: Paula’s Choice
“I appreciated LunaMetrics guiding the strategy, and our tracking now benefits every department including merchandising, design, and marketing. We didn’t know how much Google Tag Manager would help us.” Natasha Kocharov Paula’s Choice
▪ Bringing in new vendors, getting solutions implemented ▪ 600% Improvement in Tag Implementation Time ▪ Google Tag Manager migration ▪ Enhanced Ecommerce implementation
62 Installing GTM on Demo Non-PaAgeviews
Log in to Alice’s Wonderland Resort and add GTM to your page using the My Profile option. Note, this is not the normal installation.
63 Introduction Tags – What We Add
A tag is a snippet of code added to a page.
There are: … you can use Google’s tags ▪ Google Tags ▪ Third-party tags ▪ Custom HTML … you can paste from another site Tags
We will create all of … you can write your own these tags today.
64 Introduction Triggers – When We Add Them
Triggers tell Tag Manager when and where to execute a tag ▪ Triggers are made more powerful with … someone landed on a blog page Regular Expressions.
▪ Regex makes writing … someone clicked a PDF download triggers easier.
▪ We’ll discuss some … someone purchased a product common RegEx today.
65 Introduction How It All Comes Together
Imagine a restaurant…
The tags are the plates being served The triggers tell us who gets which plates
… what’s missing?
66 Introduction How It All Comes Together
We need to know certain things:
▪ Table type: booth vs. table ▪ What did people order? ▪ Is it someone’s birthday? ▪ Is there a child at table 36?
67 Introduction Variables – Retrieving Information
Variables get information from the page, or store information, so it can be used in GTM.
… the page URL
… the total purchase price
… which element was clicked on
68 Creating Tags Creating Tags
Use the NEW button to create a new Tag
Google Tag Manager Naming Strategies to Organize Your Container 70 Creating Tags
Or add a new tag from the Overview screen
71 Creating Tags
Each Tag consists of the following sections: ▪ Tag Configuration – Choose a Tag Type and fill in all required details ▪ Triggering – Use triggers to tell Tag Manager when this Tag should or should not be deployed
72 Creating Tags
Tag Name Tag Name
Tag Configuration
Triggering
73 Creating Tags Creating Tag – Tag Name
There are several strategies for naming Tags, find the one that works best for your organization!
▪ Include type of tag in name (ex: GA – Event – PDF) ▪ Include site name if using multiple domains (ex: Mysite.com – PDF Download) ▪ Include vendor/department names (ex: Marketing – Adwords Conversion)
GTM Naming Strategies to Organize Your Container 74 Creating Tags Creating Tag – Tag Type
There are several main types of Tags: Tag Name ▪ Google-related Tags (ex: Analytics/Adwords) ▪ Third Party Tags (ex: Marin/comScore) Tag Configuration ▪ Custom Tags (ex: Custom HTML/Image) Triggering
75 Creating Tags Creating Tag – Tag Type
Tag Name
Tag Configuration
Triggering
76 Creating Tags Creating Tags – Tag Configuration
Each Tag that you create will have Tag Name required fields to fill in. You can either type in the necessary Tag Configuration information or use Variables. Triggering
77 Creating Tags Creating Tags - Triggers
Triggers are used to determine when/where a Tag Name Tag should or should not fire.
▪ Multiple Triggers can be used to fire/block a Tag Tag Configuration (ex: fire the same Tag on Page X and Page Y) ▪ Blocking Triggers always override Firing Triggers (ex: block ecommerce Tags in a Dev environment) Triggering
78 Creating Triggers Creating Triggers
Each Trigger consists of the following sections: ▪ Choose the Trigger Type – Pageview, click, form submit, etc. ▪ Configure Trigger – Additional settings ▪ (Possibly) Enable When – When should we listen for certain actions ▪ Fire On – What specific conditions must be met for this trigger to fire
Beginner’s Guide to Triggers in Google Tag Manager Google Tag Manager Version 2 Triggers: What You Need To Know 80 Creating Triggers
Choose The Trigger Type GA Tra cki ng Trigger Configuration Co de Enabling Conditions Firing Conditions
81 Creating Triggers Choose Event
Page View, Click, and Forms are most common
G A T r a Choose The Trigger Type c ki Trigger Configuration n Enabling Conditions g C Firing Conditions o d 82 e Creating Triggers Events, Events, Event!
Google Tag Manager uses the word “events” to refer to actions that take place on the page and are able to be listened for by GTM. Do not confuse these events with “Google Analytics Events,” which are a specific hit type and a Tag that can be set up in GTM.
83 Creating Triggers Configure Trigger
Add more specific information about the Event you chose
G A T r a Choose The Trigger Type c ki Trigger Configuration n Enabling Conditions g C Firing Conditions o d 84 e Creating Triggers Enable This Trigger When
▪ Sometimes, you may need to specify when a Trigger should be “Enabled.” ▪ For instance, if you’re trying to trigger on a Click, this may mean “On which pages can this click occur?”
G A T r a Choose The Trigger Type c ki Trigger Configuration n g Enabling Conditions C Firing Conditions o d 85 e Creating Triggers Fire On
▪ When should this Trigger fire? ▪ For instance, if you’re trying to trigger on a Click, this may mean “Which clicks will cause this Trigger to fire?”
G A T r a Choose The Trigger Type c ki Trigger Configuration n g Enabling Conditions C Firing Conditions o d 86 e Creating Triggers Firing Conditions
If you choose Some Link Clicks (or Some Pageviews, etc.), you must specify a condition, consisting of a Variable, an Operator, and a Value.
G A T r a Choose The Trigger Type c ki Trigger Configuration n g Enabling Conditions C Firing Conditions o d 87 e Creating Triggers Variable
The left side of the condition will be a Variable. These can be default Variables from Tag Manager, or custom Variables you define.
▪ URL Variables G (ex: Page URL, Referrer) A T ▪ Auto-Event Variables r (ex: Click URL, Form ID) a Choose The Trigger Type c ▪ Custom Variables ki Trigger Configuration (ex: isLoggedIn, gender) n g Enabling Conditions C Firing Conditions o d 88 e Creating Triggers The Operator
The “operator” is the type of comparison that will be made between both sides of the condition. These can be very basic, or very advanced.
G A T r a Choose The Trigger Type c ki Trigger Configuration n g Enabling Conditions C Firing Conditions o d 89 e Creating Triggers The Operator
Regular Expressions can increase the G A power of your T triggers! r a Choose The Trigger Type c ki Trigger Configuration n g Enabling Conditions C Firing Conditions o d 90 e Creating Triggers Value
The right side of the condition is a value that must be matched. This will be compared to the Variable and will be found to be either TRUE or FALSE.
G A T r ▪ Text Values a Choose The Trigger Type (ex: /thankyou.php, .pdf) c ki ▪ Regular Expressions Trigger Configuration n Enabling Conditions (ex: \.(pdf|docx?|xlsx?)$ ) g C Firing Conditions o d 91 e Creating Triggers Multiple Conditions
Triggers can contain multiple conditions. If there are multiple conditions present, ALL conditions must evaluate to TRUE in order for the Trigger to fire a Tag.
92 Creating Triggers Examples – PDF Link Clicks
When should we listen for clicks?
How do we know it’s a PDF?
93 Creating Variables Creating Variables
Each Variable consists of the following sections: ▪ Variable Type – Choose the type of Variable ▪ Configuration – Details about the Variable
95 Creating Variables Variable Types
96 Creating Variables Naming
There are several strategies for naming Variables, find the one that works best for your organization, but make sure you’re consistent!
▪ Include Variable type (ex: JS – Day of Week, Lookup – GA ID) ▪ Include specific purposes (ex: GA – Main Property, Content Group - JS) ▪ All lowercase, proper cased
GTM Naming Strategies to Organize Your Container 97 Creating Variables Built-In vs. User-Defined
▪ Google Tag Manager comes with some Built-In Variables, which can be enabled ▪ You can create your own User-Defined Variables to expand these offerings
98 Creating Variables Built-In Variables
99 Creating Variables Examples
100 Creating Variables Examples
101 Event Triggers Event Triggers
Tag Manager includes special Triggers that “listen” for things happening on the page (click, form submit, etc.)
When these things happen, Tag Manager pushes an “event” to the dataLayer
In addition, information about the particular element that was clicked or submitted is also pushed to the data layer. This includes everything we know about that particular link or form.
103 Event Triggers
Most Popular Types ▪ Click Trigger – Listens for any click on your site Any Element - event: gtm.click Just Links - event: gtm.linkClick ▪ Form Submit Trigger – Listens for normal, HTML form submits event: gtm.formSubmit ▪ Timer Listener – Fires events on a scheduled timer event: gtm.timer or customized
104 Preview & Debug Reference Material Preview & Debug
Tag Manager includes a robust Preview & Debug option ▪ Only you can see this version in your current browser
106 Preview & Debug
107 Preview & Debug
GTM Debug Overlay – displays all Tags that have fired, and continues to update while you’re navigating through the site
108 Preview & Debug
You will see a message at the top of your container if you are in preview or debug mode
109 Publishing A Container Reference Material
Google Tag Manager 101 Publish A Container
Publishing a container will make all changes live on your site and create a new draft workspace for you to continue working in.
Google Tag Manager 101 111 Publish A Container
1. Preview/Debug new changes – test everything! 2. Click “Submit” 3. Update Name and Notes 4. Click “Publish” 5. The Current Version will be Published
Google Tag Manager 101 112 Publish A Container
1. Preview/Debug new changes – test everything!
Google Tag Manager 101 113 Publish A Container
2. Click “Submit” button.
Google Tag Manager 101 114 Publish A Container
3. Update Version Name and Notes ▪ Add extra details to explain who, why, or for what purpose changes were made
Google Tag Manager 101 115 Publish A Container
4. Publish
Google Tag Manager 101 116 Orientation View Reports Audience > Overview
117 Orientation Dimensions & Metrics
Dimension A row in reports. Represents a variety of labels applied to the data, such as where a user came from, the page they viewed, etc. Dimensions are mutually exclusive.
Metric A column in reports. Represents a measurement made on a session, such as Time On Site or Bounce Rate. Metrics are either: count, currency, calculation, or… clock.
Dimensions vs Metrics: What’s the difference? Google Analytics Metrics and Dimensions 118 Orientation Dimensions vs. Metrics
Dimensions Metrics
Remember, Metrics and Measurement both start with an “M”! 119 Orientation Dimensions vs. Metrics
DIMENSIONS Label Example
What Page /services
Where City Pittsburgh
How Medium cpc
Who User Type Returning User
120 Orientation Dimensions vs. Metrics
METRICS Label Example
Count Sessions 545
Percentage Bounce Rate 75%
Average Avg. Pages/Session 2.54
Time Avg. Session Duration 00:05:07
121 Orientation Dimension & Metrics
Dimension What is being measured. These will be the rows in reports. Metrics
Metric The measurements of dimensions. These will be the
Dimensions columns in reports. Any counts, averages, percentages.
122 Orientation Users
User An individual person who visited your site
User An individual set of cookies; that is, a particular web browser on a particular computer.
“User” is only as accurate as the cookies. If a person visits from the office and then from home, or from Internet Explorer and then from Firefox, they’re counted twice.
Google Analytics Users: Two Calculations 123 Orientation Sessions
Sessions The number of distinct visits during which someone interacted with the site. Think of this like the number of times people enter the front door of a store.
(By default, a session ends if they are inactive for more than 30 minutes.)
124 Orientation Pageviews
Pageviews The number of times pages on your site were loaded. A Pageview is a type of a “hit” that gets sent to Google Analytics.
Pages/Sessions The average number of pageviews in a single visit.
125 Orientation Users, Sessions, Hits
These three concepts underpin the way Google Analytics collects and stores information.
Understanding Scope in Google Analytics Reporting 126 Orientation Bounce Rate
Bounce Rate The percentage of single-page sessions. The user landed on a page and “bounced” – viewed only that single page before leaving. (Lower is better, meaning fewer sessions bounced.)
Engaged Not Engaged
Why Is My Google Analytics Bounce Rate So High? 127 Orientation Average Session Duration
Average Session Duration The length of time a session lasted, from the first pageview to the last pageview.
Google Analytics doesn’t know exactly when a user leaves, so must rely on the last piece of information it received about that user.
We’ll talk about ways to make this more accurate later today.
128 Orientation Session Duration Examples
Total Session EXIT Duration: A 2 min. B 3 min. C ? min. 5 minutes 10:00 am 10:02 am 10:05 am
Total Session EXIT Duration: A ? min. 0 minutes 10:00 am
129 Orientation % New Sessions
% New Sessions The percentage of sessions by users who had never been to the site before.
130 Orientation What Other Kinds of Metrics Are There?
There are many metrics we’ll talk about, but the most important one has to do with measuring goals for success (whatever our definition of “success” was):
Conversion Rate (# of conversions/# of sessions) What % of the time did they do that thing that we wanted (fill out a form, buy something, etc.)? Did we “convert” them from a mere visitor into a customer?
131 Orientation Site Usage Metrics: “Good” & “Bad”
There are only two things we care about as analysts:
Trends Over Segmenting Time Users
132 Orientation Site Usage Metrics: “Good” & “Bad”
▪ Mostly, we’re interested in comparing different groups of users or trends over time… not so much in absolute numbers.
▪ “What’s a good bounce rate?” or “What’s a good conversion rate?” Both are dependent on context and what type of site you have.
▪ But, there are some rules of thumb, and ways to compare with the competition.
133 Orientation “Good” & “Bad” Metrics: An Example
Here’s a “rule of thumb” about bounce rate:
But there are many, many exceptions that depend on the context.
For example, consider a blog home page. Visitors may come, view the home page to As a general rule of thumb, a bounce rate in the range of read the latest posts, and then leave. From 40% or below is good, 60% the visitor’s perspective, they got exactly and up is bad. what they were looking for, but the bounce rate will be high. Why Is My Google Analytics Bounce Rate So High? 134 Orientation Choosing Success Metrics
Think about the different types of sites (ecommerce, lead generation, content, service) and the questions you asked about your site.
What metrics have we talked about that might help you measure that success? ▪ Ecommerce and Lead Generation sites: Conversion Rate (for purchases or form signups) ▪ Content sites: Time on Site, Pages/Session
Remember too that there can be intermediate steps to success, such as: ▪ Did they stay on the site after the landing page? (Bounce Rate) ▪ Did they view a key page of information (Conversion Rate)
135 Non-Pageview Interactions Non-Pageview Tracking Non-Pageviews
Pageview tracking tracks pageviews... obviously
But what about anywhere the URL doesn’t change or tracking code isn’t on the destination page: ▪ Downloads ▪ Links to external sites ▪ Video and audio players ▪ Facebook/Twitter/etc. buttons ▪ Interactive AJAX elements ▪ Forms that post back to the same page
137 Non-Pageview Tracking Non-Pageviews
Anywhere someone does something, you can track with additional Google Analytics tracking code.
Three options: ▪ Event Tracking ▪ Social Tracking ▪ [Virtual pageviews]
138 Non-Pageview Event Tracking
Meant for tracking non-pageview interactions ▪ Video players (play, stop, reached the end) ▪ Flash (any kind of interactive activity) ▪ Clicks on links to external sites Almost any occurrence or click on your site you want to track
Can organize and report on by categories and distinct actions
Requires some extra tracking code on the things you want to track
139 Non-Pageview Event Tracking
Value Category Optional integer parameter to A way to group types of events to track together track a value (e.g. seconds played) Action What we do to interact Non-Interaction Optional boolean parameter to Label determine if event is used in More information about the event bounce rate calculations being tracked (optional)
Naming Events and Traffic Sources for Easier Reporting in GA 140 Non-Pageview Event Tracking
141 Non-Pageview Interactions
142 Non-Pageview Event Tracking Example
Category: Video Action: Play, Pause, FullScreen, Stop Label: “Screen Test #2: Trench Coats” Value: 100
143 Non-Pageview Event Tracking Example
Category: Downloads Action: PDF, DOCX, MP3, etc. Label: [FileName] Value: N/A
144 Non-Pageview Event Tracking Example
Category: Scroll Tracking Action: [Page URL] Label: Start, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% Value: [Number of Seconds]
Scroll Tracking in GA: Why & How to Implement 145 Non-Pageview Event Tracking Recommendations
Make use of all three reports: Category, Action, Label ▪ Downloads > PDF > GA-360.pdf ▪ Contact Us > Email > Contact Form ▪ Nav Links > Top > Blog ▪ Videos > Play > Silento – Watch Me
146 Non-Pageview Event Tracking In Segments
▪ See all the sessions where someone played a video ▪ …or all the sessions where someone clicked an outbound link ▪ Anything you’re tracking with events can be used to build a custom advanced segment
147 Non-Pageview Events As Goals
▪ Events can be used as Goals, too! ▪ Only count ONCE per session ▪ LOOK OUT: If the Event has a value, it will be used as the Goal Value – the lowest you can set it to is $1
Access 404 Error Metrics Using Google Tag Manager Form Engagement Tracking with Google Tag Manager Using Events as Goals in Google Analytics 148 Non-Pageview Goals & Dollar Values Goals & Dollar Values Google Analytics allows you to assign a dollar value to goals.
If you have an actual dollar value, use it!
For example:
▪ You might know that when users fill out the contact form on your lead generation site, 10% of those leads turn into business
▪ If the average value of a deal is $1000, then the value of a lead through the contact form is 10% x $1000 = $100.
149 Non-Pageview Goals & Dollar Values Goals & Dollar Values If you don’t have an actual dollar value, you can make values up!
Use relative values (this goal is the most important and worth $10, but these other two are less important and worth $5 and $1)
It’s worth doing this because you can use some metrics that are otherwise unavailable (like Per Session Goal Value)
150 Non-Pageviews Events for Content Marketers
What interactions on your site would improve your content marketing? Understand users better? Create better content?
151 Non-Pageviews Scroll Tracking
Scroll Tracking – how far someone scrolls down the page.
Not everyone will scroll to the bottom of the page. Customize the LunaMetrics script to ignore the top and bottom of your page, and only focus on content areas.
Look for themes or patterns in scroll behavior. Do certain types of posts get scrolls? Try tweaking a site element, and see if that changes your numbers.
Scroll Tracking in Google Analytics: Why & How to Implement 152 Non-Pageviews Engaged Users
Engaged User Timing – how long someone stays on page while active
Time on Page and Session Duration measure from one interaction to the next. Use the Engagement timer to record time in intervals, but only when the page is active in the user’s browser.
Simo Ahava: Track Content Engagement Via GTM Engagement Timer Recipe for GTM 153 Non-Pageviews Events As Goals
“Next Step” Tracking – what are you hoping people do? Fill out a form? Download a paper?
Remember, Events record how often an action occurs on your site.
Goals measure which sessions contain at least one ‘good thing.’
Use Event Goals with values to assign relative goal values to various actions on your site. For instance, a PDF download might be worth less than a Lead submission.
154 Non-Pageviews Ecommerce Tracking?
No Ecommerce site?
▪ You can still use Enhanced Ecommerce reports for measuring content performance! ▪ Understand the value of your content in driving readership and engagement.
What are some creative ideas for using Ecommerce tracking?
Track Content With Enhanced Ecommerce Google Analytics 301 155 Examples of Tags/Triggers/Variables Reference Materials Examples Google Analytics Pageviews
Add the default Google Analytics to every page ▪ Tag – GA - Pageview ▪ Trigger – All Pages ▪ Variable – Settings Template
Google Tag Manager 101 157 Examples Google Analytics Pageviews
Variable ▪ Name: Settings Template ▪ Type: Google Analytics Settings
How to Use the Google Analytics Settings Variable in GTM Google Tag Manager 101 158 Examples Google Analytics Pageviews
Tag 1 ▪ Name: GA - Pageview ▪ Type: Universal Analytics 2 ▪ Trigger: All Pages
Google Tag Manager 101 159 Examples Google Analytics Pageviews
Variable ▪ Name: Settings Template ▪ Type: Google Analytics Settings
Google Tag Manager 101 160 Examples Google Analytics Email Links
Track Clicks on Email Links ▪ Tag – GA – Event - Mailto ▪ Trigger – Link Click - Mailto ▪ Variable – Click URL
Google Tag Manager 101 161 Examples Google Analytics – Email Links
Variable ▪ Type: Built-In ▪ Name: Click URL
Google Tag Manager 101 162 Examples Google Analytics – Email Links
Trigger ▪ Type: Click - Just Links ▪ Name: Link Click - Mailto
Google Tag Manager 101 163 Examples Google Analytics – Email Links
Tag ▪ Type: Universal Analytics ▪ Trigger: Link Click - Mailto ▪ Name: GA – Event - Mailto
Google Tag Manager 101 164 Examples Google Analytics – PDF Event
Track clicks on PDFs as events with a Google Analytics tag ▪ Tag – GA – Event – PDF ▪ Trigger – PDF Click ▪ Variable – Click URL
Google Tag Manager 101 165 Examples Google Analytics – PDF Event
Trigger ▪ Type: Click - Just Links ▪ Name: Click - PDF
Google Tag Manager 101 166 Examples Google Analytics – PDF Event
Tag ▪ Type: Universal Analytics ▪ Trigger: Click - PDF ▪ Name: GA – Event - PDF
Google Tag Manager 101 167 Examples Google Analytics – Form Submit
Track clicks on PDFs as events with a Google Analytics tag ▪ Tag – GA – Event – Contact Form ▪ Trigger – Contact Form Submit ▪ Variable – Form ID
Google Tag Manager 101 168 Examples Google Analytics – Email Links
Variable ▪ Type: Built-In ▪ Name: Form ID
Google Tag Manager 101 169 Google Analytics – Form Submit
Trigger ▪ Type: Form Submission ▪ Name: Form – Contact Form Submit
Google Tag Manager 101 170 Examples Google Analytics – Form Submit
Tag ▪ Type: Universal Analytics ▪ Trigger: Form – Contact Form Submit ▪ Name: GA - Event – Contact Form
Google Tag Manager 101 171 Examples Google Analytics – Navigation
Track clicks on PDFs as events with a Google Analytics tag ▪ Tag – GA – Event – Nav Link ▪ Trigger – Click – Nav Link
Google Tag Manager 101 172 Google Analytics – Navigation
Trigger ▪ Type: Click ▪ Name: Click – Nav Link
Google Tag Manager 101 173 Examples Google Analytics – Navigation
Tag ▪ Type: Universal Analytics ▪ Trigger: Click – Nav Link ▪ Name: GA - Event – Nav Link
Google Tag Manager 101 174 Examples Tag Manager Limitations
Limitations Reasons Why
Should not edit page content Crawlers don’t wait for Tag Manager to load.
Should not use for A/B testing The user would see a “flash” because the (Optimizely, Google Experiments) page already started loading.
SEO factors are determined by on-page Cannot edit meta data “server-delivered” content.
Google Tag Manager 101 175 Custom Not Enough Dimensions/Metrics?
Custom Dimensions is a feature that lets you collect more information about your visitors, your pages, and more.
Set on four different levels: ▪ User (applies to the user, including their current and future sessions) ▪ Session (applies to the current session only) ▪ Hit (applies to the pageview/event only) ▪ Product (applies to a specific product for ecommerce tracking)
Recording custom dimensions requires extra tracking code and a vehicle to send into GA (either a Pageview or an Event.)
Google Support – Custom Dimensions & Metrics 176 Custom Hit-Level Custom Dimensions
177 Custom Hit-Level Custom Dimensions
178 Custom Session-Level Custom Dimensions
179 Custom User-Level Custom Dimensions
180 Custom User-Level Custom Dimensions
181 Custom Custom Dimensions/Metrics Examples
User-level (intrinsic to the visitor or semi-permanent) ▪ Demographic information: age, gender, income, family, occupation, etc. ▪ Customer information: “member” or “subscriber” or “gold club”
Session-level (behavior during a particular visit) ▪ Logged-in vs. logged-out sessions ▪ Viewed a particular section of the site
Hit-level (information about a particular page) ▪ Author, page-type, content tone, publish date, # of images
Product-level (additional details about a particular product) ▪ Length of subscription to a product or service ▪ Manufacturer, weight, gross margin
182 Custom Custom Dimensions/Metrics
Custom Definitions
Custom Dimensions Custom Metrics
▪ User Occupation ▪ Video Plays ▪ Logged In Status ▪ Ad Impressions ▪ Content Type ▪ Downloads ▪ Author ▪ Article Completes ▪ … ▪ …
183 Custom Custom Dimensions/Metrics
184 Custom Custom Dimensions: Code
Custom Dimensions are first set up in the Admin
185 Custom Custom Dimensions: Code
186 Custom Custom Dimensions: Code
In the code, we only need to pass the Index and the Value ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’, { ‘dimension1’: ‘value’ });
We need to send this information along with another interaction (pageview or event)
187 Custom Where Do The Values Come From?
You have to have the values already in your application
Insert the value dynamically in the JavaScript (or use GTM and a data layer!) ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’, { ‘dimension1’: });
188 Custom Where Does The Code Go?
It depends on where you’re collecting this information.
Maybe you know it because someone filled out a form: ▪ Put the code on the thank you page.
Maybe you know it because someone has logged in: ▪ Put the code on the page someone gets to after logging in.
Maybe you have info offline that you want to join: ▪ Use Data Import to merge with info in GA
Defining Audiences with Google Analytics Custom Dimensions 189 Custom Custom Dimensions/Metrics In Reports
How to Report Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics 190 Custom
What custom dimensions on your site will improve your reporting on content/users?
191 Custom Article Metadata
Pass in information about the article to segment your future reporting. Consider items like: ▪ Author name ▪ Categories ▪ Intended audience ▪ Number of words ▪ Tone
E-Nor: Tracking Multiple Categories in Google Analytics for Content Pages How to Report Items in Multiple Categories in Google Analytics 192 Custom Content Cohort Analysis
Pass in information about the article’s time on your site to compare similar date ranges together (i.e. “First 30 days”)
Comparing content pieces by dates are problematic in the short date ranges due to recency effects. If you’re looking for quick performance comparisons, vs historical reporting, consider a cohort-type approach.
Easy Cohort Analysis for Blogs and Articles (Part 1) Data Studio Template: Cohort Analysis for Blogs and Articles (Part 2) 193 Custom Content Cohort Analysis
Easy Cohort Analysis for Blogs and Articles (Part 1) Data Studio Template: Cohort Analysis for Blogs and Articles (Part 2) 194 Custom Custom Tips for Publishers
Use a custom dimensions and metrics to answer specific questions about your users, their behavior, and more.
Advanced Questions Publishers Should be Asking in Google Analytics 195 The Data Layer Reference Material Data Layer
The data layer has two main functions ▪ It allows us to send server information directly to Google Tag Manager ▪ GTM uses it to keep track of events that happen on the page
The information we send is usually done programmatically and inserted into the page, anywhere ABOVE the Tag Manager snippet.
This could be done in PHP, .NET, etc... GTM Data Layer Best Practices Google Tag Manager 101 197 Data Layer Typical Data Layer Process
1. Recognize you need something specific Covered Today ▪ Not available on page or not easily accessible 2. Add to page via server-side code Not Covered ▪ Different for every site, may require a developer 3. Verify information is on the data layer Covered Today ▪ Using View Source or GTM Debug 4. Bring into Google Tag Manager Covered Today ▪ Using Data Layer Variables 5. Use in Tags or Triggers Covered Today
Google Tag Manager 101 198 Data Layer Who Can Make Changes?
I have the technical skills and the correct access to make changes to the server-side code on my website:
A Developer’s Guide To Implementing The Data Layer
I do not have either the necessary skills or access to complete this process alone:
Unlock the Data Layer: A Non-Developer’s Guide toGoogle Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager 101 199 Data Layer Step 1: Info on Your Server
Info about content or users exists on your server, such as:
▪ Categories ▪ Author ▪ Publish Date ▪ Membership Type ▪ Gender ▪ Occupation
Google Tag Manager 101 200 Data Layer Data Layer Structure
When the page loads, the data layer needs to look like the following: dataLayer = [{ 'key':'value', 'key':'value' }];
Google Tag Manager 101 201 Data Layer Step 2: Add Data to Data Layer
Data from your server is added to the data layer on the page. Here we can see the output:
Google Tag Manager 101 202 Data Layer PHP (Wordpress) Example dataLayer.push({ 'author': '', 'postedDate' : '', });
Google Tag Manager 101 203 Data Layer Step 3: Access Data in GTM
Data is accessible within GTM; create Data Layer variables to store the values.
Google Tag Manager 101 204 Data Layer
Use Data Layer variables in Tags or Triggers.
Example: Send blog categories to a Custom Dimension in Google Analytics.
Google Tag Manager 101 205 Data Layer Step 4: Use Your Data in GA!
Outcome: Data from your server is shared with Google Analytics and can be used for analysis/action.
Which blog categories had the most engagement?
How to Report Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics Google Tag Manager 101 206 Data Layer Use Your Data with Other Tools
Outcome: Data from your server is shared with Google Optimize and can be used to target experiments.
Show experiment variations to people who viewed blog posts within a specific category.
Data Layer Variable Targeting - Optimize Google Tag Manager 101 207 Data Layer Add Data Layer Info After Page Load
We can send information directly to the dataLayer after the page loads (when an action occurs), to be retrieved by GTM. dataLayer.push({'event': 'event_name'});
Google Tag Manager 101 208 Data Layer Examples
Call the push() API by modifying a button link to set an event when the button is clicked:
Adding Data Layer Variables to a Page Google Tag Manager 101 209 Data Layer Examples
Call the push() API within a function:
Adding Data Layer Variables to a Page Google Tag Manager 101 210 Data Layer Check the Data Layer
You can view the dataLayer in the JavaScript console by typing in “dataLayer”
Google Tag Manager 101 211 Data Layer Check the Data Layer
You can also view the dataLayer in the Debug panel:
Google Tag Manager 101 212 How Can I Continue My Education? Education LunaMetrics Resources
The Blog The Recipes The Book
Google Tag Manager 101 214 Resources Get Updates From LunaMetrics
Monthly Daily
Sign Up Here!
Google Tag Manager 101 215 Education Luna-Recommended Blogs/Blog Posts
http://kaushik.net/avinash/ http://www.simoahava.com/
How to Get GTM Help
http://cutroni.com 11 Great Resources for Getting Free Google Analytics Support
Google Tag Manager 101 216 Education Google+ Communities
Google Analytics Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager 101 217 Education Google Resources
Google Analytics Academy http://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com
Take the Google Analytics Individual Qualifications Exam
How & Why to Get Your Google Analytics Individual Qualification Google Tag Manager 101 218 Education Google Resources
▪ Google Analytics Help Center ▪ Google Code Site http://support.google.com/analytics ▪ http://developer.google.com/analytics/ ▪ All the developer docs live here ▪ Video ▪ Tracking code http://www.youtube.com/googleanalytics ▪ Data API ▪ Integrations ▪ Official Blog ▪ Code examples, libraries, etc. http://analytics.blogspot.com/
▪ User Forum http://productforums.google.com/forum/ #!forum/analytics
Google Tag Manager 101 219 Education LunaMetrics Training
Training Dates/Locations Google Tag Manager 101 220 Welcome Ok, So Who Is This?
Jon Meck Senior Director, Marketing
221